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Ōsawa
Ōsawa (大沢) was a Japanese distributor from the 1930s to the 1960s. History The company was already active in 1937 as K.K. Ōsawa Shōkai ( 大沢商会), with an address in Kyoto. Advertisement in April 1937, p.A38, reproduced in this page and in , p.104. The exact address was Kyōto-shi Sanjō Obashi Nishiiri (京都市三条小橋西入). It was the distributor of the Rosen Four and Semi Rosen. It perhaps owned the "Rosen" trademark, and it is likely that it was also the distributor of the Rosen plate folder and Baby Rosen 3×4cm camera. In the early 1940s, the company distributed the Primo folders made by Daiichi Kikō. By 1940 it had opened a branch in Tokyo, at Ginza 42–5. Column on the Semi Rosen III in April 1940, pp.705–6, mentioning a branch opened at Tōkyō-shi Kyōbashi-ku Ginza 42 (東京市京橋区銀座四二丁目). By the end of the year this became the main address of the company, which also had branches in Nagoya, Ogura and Seoul, in addition to the original shop in Kyoto. The address is given as Tōkyō Ginza 42–5 (東京・銀座・四二ノ五), with mention of Kyōto (京都), Nagoya (名古屋), Ogura (小倉) and Seoul (京城), in an advertisement in Asahi Graph, 23 December 1942, reproduced at Gochamaze, and in an advertisement in Hōdō Shashin May 1943 reproduced in , p.90. By early 1944, the company was operating as Ōsawa Sangyō K.K. (大沢産業 ), Advertisement in January 1944, p.2. a name that was used only for a short time. The company survived the war; in 1948 it was again operating under the name K.K. Ōsawa Shōkai ( 大沢商会), and the only remaining address was that in Ginza. The address is Tōkyō-to Ginza-ku Nishi 42–5 (東京都中央区銀座西四二ノ五) in the advertisement on p.2 of , April 20, 1948, reproduced on p.80 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku. In the 1950s, the company reused the "Primo" trademark (which it probably owned) for the Primoflex and Primo Jr TLR cameras made by Tōkyō Kōgaku. , p.924. This was also used for the Primo exposure meter, whose actual manufacturer is unknown. The company was still active in 1960, as an authorized dealer of the Kinotar and Kinotel cine lenses; it was still in Ginza but the address was slightly altered, perhaps merely because of a reform of the postal system. Advertisement in Asahi Camera Annual '60. The exact address was Chūō-ku Ginza Nishi 3–1 Namiki Building (中央区銀座西3–1並木ビル). In 1962, it was distributing the Viscawide-16 panorama camera made by Taiyō Kōki. Advertisement dated May 1962 reproduced in , p.268. The address was changed again to Ginza Nishi 2–5. Distributed cameras * Rosen (unconfirmed) * Semi Rosen * Baby Rosen by Proud (unconfirmed) * Rosen Four by Proud * Primo by Daiichi Kikō (1941–4) * Primoflex by Tōkyō Kōgaku * Topcon 35 by Tōkyō Kōgaku (1953–4) * Semi Oscon by Yamagata Kikai (1953–4) * Viscawide-16 by Taiyō Kōki (1962) Other * Cosmos rangefinder (c.1937) Advertisement in April 1937, p.A38, and May 1937, p.A35. * Primo exposure meter (sold ¥3,800 in 1955) Column in no.80, June 1955, p.103. Notes Bibliography Original documents * . Advertisements by Ōsawa Shōkai: ** April 1937, p.A38; ** May 1937, p.A35. * . "Atarashii kikai to zairyō" (新しい機械と材料, New equipment and materials), April 1940, pp.705–7. (Mentions Ōsawa in the column on the Semi Rosen III.) * Asahi Camera Annual '60 (アサヒカメラ年鑑'60). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbun-sha. No ISBN number. * Advertisement on p.80, corresponding to p.2 of the April 20, 1948 issue. * "Denki roshutsukei" (電気露出計, Electric exposure meters). Pp.102–3. * January 1944. Advertisement by Ōsawa Sangyō on p.2. Recent sources * Links In Japanese: * Advertisement by Ōsawa Shōkai for the Primo, published in the 23 December 1942 issue of Asahi Graph, reproduced in the Japanese camera page of the Gochamaze website Osawa